Science fair at Westfield's Washington Elementary School attracts hundreds of students

WESTFIELD — Interest in science, it seems, is alive and well among the hundreds of students at Washington Elementary School who attended a science fair held at the school on Wednesday evening, March 13.

The school's parent teacher organization (PTO) sponsored the event that featured a plethora of hands-on science-related activities, exhibits, presentations and demonstrations.

Ginger Clarke-Walden, chairperson of the PTO science committee, said the event was a kind of “thank you” to parents and their children for their efforts in making the PTO fundraiser show such a success. The show, she said, brought in about $25,000.

She praised Matthew Cognetti, a science teacher at Washington School, for his efforts in planning the fair that attracted so many students and their families.

“He was instrumental,” Clarke-Walden said. “He's our science adviser for the committee. He did so much work to organize this. He deserves a lot of credit,”

“Also, the parents just wanted to give back,” she said, explaining that a number of parents, who are professionals in the fields of science, engineering and medicine, offered their expertise to students during hands-on demonstrations they presented.

“We have several parents who are scientists, nuclear physicists,” Clarke-Walden said. “We have parents who are dentists, even molecular biologists who wanted to give back to the kids and spark the love of science.”